Category: History Essay Examples
See our collection of history essay examples. These example essays are to help you understanding how to write a history essay. History is a fascinating puzzle with both personal and cultural significance. The past informs our lives, ideas, and expectations. Historians study the past to figure out what happened and how specific events and cultural developments affected individuals and societies. Also, see our list of history essay topics to find the one that interests you.
The Maori wars, also known as the New Zealand Land Wars, stretched from 1843 to 1872. These continued periods of conflict occurred because of the British colonization of New Zealand, a process that began in the late 18th century. In 1840 the British officially annexed New Zealand as …
The ruler of the Austrian Habsburg dominions, Maria Theresa was the only female ruler (1740–80) of the Habsburg dynasty in its 650-year history. She inherited the Austrian throne when her father, Charles VI, died in 1740 without male heirs to succeed him. A capable monarch, she was admired …
Market revolution is a term many American historians use to describe the intensive growth in trade between the end of the War of 1812 and the beginning of the American Civil War. While no definitive or complete data are available for the whole range of the economy—exports alone …
John Marshall, one of the most influential members of the Supreme Court in its earliest years, was born in Germantown, Virginia, in 1755 to Thomas and Mary Isham Keith Marshall. At 18 Marshall began studying law, but temporarily abandoned it when his state joined the rebellion against Great …
Brilliant and indefatigable scholar, poet, journalist, activist, organizer, and patriot, often called the “Apostle of Cuban Liberty,” José Martí is widely recognized among Cubans as the most admired figure in their nation’s history and is commonly ranked among the most important Latin American heroes of the modern era. …
Karl Marx first met Friedrich Engels in 1842 in the office of a leftist Cologne newspaper, Rheinische Zeitung. They were both students, analysts, and critics of their respective environments, Marx in Cologne and Paris and Engels in various parts of England. In 1844 they met again in Paris; …
Giuseppe Mazzini, born in Genoa on June 22, 1805, was the intellectual source behind the Risorgimento, or resurgence. The son of a doctor, he completed his legal education in 1827 at the University of Genoa and became a practicing lawyer. He was a romantic revolutionary and an avid …
In December 1867 the 15th and last shogun (military leader) of the Tokugawa dynasty (1603–1867), Yoshinobu, surrendered his power to Emperor Meiji, which means “enlightened government.” The event is called the Meiji Restoration. In 1868 Meiji took a charter oath that would create a modernized state when several …
Prince Clemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich was the son of the Austrian envoy to the Rhenish clerical courts (later envoy to the Netherlands). A man of charm and presence, Metternich gained influence by marrying Maria Eleanora Kunitz, the granddaughter of the minister of Maria Theresa. Having received educational …
In a profound national humiliation for Mexico and the biggest land-grab in U.S. history, from April 1846 to February 1848 the United States waged a war of conquest against its southern neighbor that had major repercussions for both nations. For Mexico, La Guerra de ’47 discredited the leadership …
Several major themes dominated the first three decades of the independent Mexican republic—sometimes referred to as the “Age of Santa Ana”—each relating to a specific axis of social, political, and international conflict. The central arena of struggle was the process of state formation, the constituent elements of struggles …
Coming on the heels of the devastating defeat in the Mexican-American War, in 1855 the Revolution of Ayutla ousted the aging dictator José Antonio López de Santa Ana for the last time, ushering in a period in Mexican history known as La Reforma, or the period of Liberal …
Mexico followed a path to independence that both resembled and differed from the path taken by other Latin American nations in the Age of Revolution. As in South America, the Napoleonic invasion of Iberia in 1807–08 generated a crisis of authority in New Spain, prompting the formation of …
Indian revolts, rebellions, and insurrections played a key role in the colonial history of the Americas, shaping Indian-Spanish relations in lasting ways and helping to structure the principal features of colonial society. In New Spain, patterns of violent collective action by Indian communities varied widely in time and …
Midhat Pasha entered the Ottoman government service as a young man and rose quickly within the ranks. He worked in Syria and then in Istanbul before being appointed governor (vali) over Bulgaria in 1857. Midhat quickly restored order to the rebellious province and instituted a wide-ranging series of …
North America’s most important river, contested by four nations and many native tribes, has played an essential role in U.S. history. Flowing 2,301 miles from northern Minnesota’s Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico below New Orleans, the Mississippi was a key American Civil War arena. Until 1865, …
Bartolomé Mitre was one of the Argentine statesmen who dominated his country’s political scene following the overthrow of Juan Manuel Ortiz de Rosas in 1852. The son of Ambrosio Mitre and Josefa Martinez, he grew up in Buenos Aires where the political life was dominated by Rosas. Disliking …
In 1823 in response to the long-anticipated successes of the Spanish-American independence movements, U.S. president James Monroe announced a hemispheric policy that later came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. Penned principally by secretary of state and future president John Quincy Adams, the doctrine forbade subsequent European …
Descended from both Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, the Mughal dynasty originated in Central Asia. It became the strongest dynasty to rule India, lasting from 1526 to 1858. The Mughal dynasty reached its height under Akbar, who encouraged reconciliation among his subjects by encouraging intermarriage between Hindus and Muslims …
An Ottoman janissary of Albanian origin, Muhammad Ali became the founder of modern Egypt. Following the Napoleonic invasion and short-lived British occupation of Egypt, Muhammad Ali and a number of other janissary forces were sent to reassert Ottoman control in 1802. Muhammad Ali had outmaneuvered rival janissaries for …
